(Reuters) - Home genetics company 23andMe on Tuesday said it
hopes to uncover gene mutations linked to inflammatory bowel
disease (IBD) by enrolling 10,000 people with the hard-to-treat
malady and examining DNA from their donated saliva samples.

The privately held company, founded in 2006 by Anne Wojcicki
and backed by Google Inc, said U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc will
support its latest research effort.

"We're hoping within a year or two to have some meaningful
genetic data and that it might lead to either an improved
therapy or a new therapy for IBD," said Catherine Afarian, a
spokeswoman for 23andMe, which is based in Mountain View,
California.

IBD is the catch-all term for Crohn's disease and ulcerative
colitis, painful and debilitating inflammatory conditions in
which the immune system is believed to attack the bowel. They
affect 1.4 million people in the United States, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although there are no cures for either Crohn's or ulcerative
colitis, Pfizer is testing its approved Xeljanz arthritis pill
as well as four experimental drugs against one or both
conditions. The largest U.S. drugmaker does not currently sell
any IBD treatments.

Pfizer and 23andMe declined to provide financial details
about their collaboration, including whether Pfizer would be
able to exclusively license rights to develop drugs that target
any gene mutations identified in the study.

23andMe sells a $99 DNA test, from which it provides its
customers ancestry-related genetic reports and uninterpreted raw
genetic data.

But those enrolling in the IBD research project, who must
have been diagnosed with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
by a qualified physician, will receive the company's test at no
cost. They must provide a saliva sample, answer online surveys
and agree to share their data with researchers. The study is
only open to U.S. residents.

For more information on study: (http://www.23andme.com/ibd)

Until last year, 23andMe also offered reports meant to
provide information about a person's health risks, including
risk assessments for certain cancers. But following objections
from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it no longer offers
that service.

In a warning letter dated Nov. 22, the FDA said products
that are designed to diagnose, mitigate or prevent disease are
medical devices that require regulatory clearance or approval,
"as FDA has explained to you on numerous occasions."

The agency, which had not cleared any genetic tests offered
directly to consumers, said false positive tests for certain
breast or ovarian cancers could lead a patient to undergo
preventative surgery including mastectomy, intensive screening
or other potentially risky procedures. A false negative could
result in a failure to recognize and act on an actual risk.

The biggest prior research effort by 23andMe, announced in
2009, recruited more than 10,000 people to identify genetic
links to Parkinson's disease. Although two gene mutations were
linked to the progressive neurological disease, they were not
deemed treatable with drugs.